American “Cheese”

http://newstartclub.com/recipe/166

Ingredients

Instructions

A good cheese for slicing and using in toasted cheese sandwiches.

Place agar agar in a saucepan with water. Bring to boil, stirring often. Boil gently 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a blender, process cashews with pimientos and lemon juice. Add remaining ingredients and turn blender to slow speed. With blender running, slowly pour gelatin into other ingredients and process until very smooth.

Pour into container and refrigerate. Can be sliced when firm. Yields 2 1/2 cups.

I used 125g of red capsicum (but I think next time I will grill it to remove the skin as it didn’t process up properly). This made a very nice solid ‘cheese’ which can be grated. It had a ‘nacho’ sort of flavour.

Danielle, I just received verification from a cooking school instructor visiting Australia, and she confirms that pimentos would be what you call red capsicums! And the weight or amount to use, would be according to the color you wish to achieve.

Red capsicums - cut them into quarters, remove seeds. Put in a plastic bag and freeze. When needed thaw just a little, must be firm & then you can use a knife & just pull the skins off. (easier than grilling)

I love the sights many cheese recipes! Having had cancer and read that cashews along with peanuts contain a fair amount of aflatoxins, can you please tell me how to get around this - by perhaps using ONLY roasted cashews and peanuts? thankyou so much!

Agar agar is gelatin made from a sea vegetable, so it is a plant-based source. The flakes or powder take some gentle simmering in liquid (perhaps 5 minutes) to dissolve completely, longer than Jello products. It can be found in most Asian markets and natural food stores.

I found that this freezes very well, the texture is fine. I was reading the comments and I noticed that Elena wanted it more firm so I used 4T. of agar agar. 3-1/2 T. would have probably been enough. Instead of cashews I used 1/3 c.sesame seeds and 2/3c.almonds with the skins I soaked them overnight. I used 4-1/2 ” piece of carrot instead of the pimientos. I used4t.onion flakes instead of 2t. Onion powder. Instead of 1/4t. Garlic powder I used 1t. I am going to try to use 1c. Water to blend the carrot and nuts etc. as it didn’t mix great with only lemon juice as liquid. I would dissolve the agar agar in 2c.s of water, I think that should work. We really liked the flavour.

Probably 3T.agar agar would be enough. I used 1c.water to blend the carrot and nuts etc. I used the 2.c. of water to dissolve the agar,worked good. I used 1/4c. of pumpkin seeds and 3/4 c. Almonds. I used 3-1/2 T. of agar but next time I will use the 3T. I am wondering if it will melt then.

Sally Christensen is a retired cooking instructor at the NEWSTART Lifestyle Program. She has been teaching others how to cook healthfully at NEWSTART, Reversing Diabetes seminars, and local community classes for almost 20 years. Sally was a major contributor and editor of the well regarded NEWSTART Lifestyle Cookbook. She has also done cooking shows for television, reaching audiences across the world.